


I’m not sick, I’m just kind of different

by A_Tomb_With_A_View



Series: They tell us to be different, but no one told me I could go too far [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Nick is the token straight friend aka their public relations manager, Not the one you relate to most, Or the one you wish you knew, Reggie has fibromyalgia (referenced), Think PowerPoint night but it’s an intervention run by scary lesbians, because he is, customer service tingz, deep down he should be the one you want to smother in blankets the most, everybody simps for Julie even if it’s not obvious, everyone thinks willie is beautiful, if Reggie isn’t ur fave then I don’t trust you, they do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:00:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27778768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Tomb_With_A_View/pseuds/A_Tomb_With_A_View
Summary: “Hi, Swinton’s Electrical and Musical Supplies, how can I help?” He answered, silently thanking the gods of customer interactions for the automatic friendly tone that he didn’t even have to try to force anymore.“Hello. I’m calling because you have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, but I was only 97% satisfied with the.. uh, keytar I bought from you yesterday.”
Relationships: Alex & Flynn & Julie Molina & Nick & Luke Patterson & Reggie & Willie & Carrie Wilson, Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Reggie, Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: They tell us to be different, but no one told me I could go too far [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032153
Comments: 74
Kudos: 367





	I’m not sick, I’m just kind of different

**Author's Note:**

> Uh, this is based off a prompt [MadameCristal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameCristal/pseuds/MadameCristal)

Alex was pretty sure he was ready to hand in his notice when the call came in. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy working at the weird electronics-instrument shop that he did weekend and random weeknight shifts at to cover his quarter of the rent for the big new apartment he and his band mates/best friends rented a half hour’s walk from the studio where they’d hesitantly signed their first record deal. He did, honestly. The customers were always weird and amusing, and half the time he was the only person on shift, so when the store was empty he could fuck around on the drums, and the times when he was working with someone else - usually just Saturdays and the occasional Friday night - it was Julie, who was awesome, and who was  _ finally  _ dating Luke. 

The main problem was the new customer satisfaction kick the store owner was on, which would’ve been vaguely reasonable if the shop was bigger than a luxury broom cupboard or sold items more suited to your average Joe than the PC in the window with fifteen years of accumulated modifications. Unfortunately, it wasn’t and it didn’t, so asking customers to please feel free to call the store if they weren’t 100% satisfied with their service felt like a cruel joke. A customer walking in for a violin bow was more likely to walk out with a full beginner’s cello set and appropriate sheet music than they were to walk out with the violin bow, and they were damn well grateful for the advice about how their lower back issues could make the best position for violining painful. 

The point of obscure shops on cobbled side streets wasn’t  _ customer satisfaction,  _ it was reading the customer’s soul and hoping they’d catch up with themselves long enough to appreciate whatever you’d convinced them to buy at some point in the near future. 

By the time Alex was close to finishing his shift, he’d received ten calls regarding customer satisfaction, and  _ was there a money back guarantee to go with that?  _ And  _ I don’t suppose I could get a guide on how to use it?  _ And every other possible question he could think of. 

He’d just finished switching the displays off on all the lights when the call came through. 

“Hi, Swinton’s Electrical and Musical Supplies, how can I help?” He answered, silently thanking the gods of customer interactions for the automatic friendly tone that he didn’t even have to try to force anymore. 

“Hello. I’m calling because you have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, but I was only 97% satisfied with the.. uh, keytar I bought from you yesterday.” 

Alex paused for a moment, resisting the urge to throw the phone at the wall. “William, I swear to fuck, if you seriously called to complain about a  _ keytar _ , which you don’t even play, I’m gonna steal your cat.” 

“Firstly, of course I didn’t, baby, I called to let you know I ordered Chinese and bribed your flatmates to clear out,” Willie placated immediately, voice amused even if his tone was sympathetic. Secondly, how many complaints have you had today if you’re threatening to steal my cat? My cat only likes you every three to six business months when she remembers that I feed her and that I love you.” 

Alex softened immediately. “You’re my absolute second favourite person in the whole wide world, I gotta lock up, but I’ll be out in ten, okay?” 

“I just want you to know that you’re very lucky that Bobby and I are understanding about you and Reggie being each other’s favourites,” Willie added teasingly. “Do you think Julie would put up with coming second to Reg?” 

“Uh, babe, I don’t know if you have observational skills, but  _ Julie  _ likes Reggie more than she likes Luke. You’re not allowed to be friends with us if Reggie isn’t your favourite, nevermind date one of us. If Reggie isn’t your favourite member of Sunset Curve , your judgement is clearly terrible,” Alex explained as he finished switching off the shitty neon signs and the one heater in the back corner that did fuck all. “Now I gotta hang up and make sure everything is sorted, but I love you, and I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Okay, man. I’m outside when you’re done.” 

Alex grinned to himself as he locked the display cases and swept up, humming the riff that Bobby had proposed they added to the final song they were thinking of putting in the album. 

——

The first thing Alex noticed when they walked in the door was that they very much did not have the place to themselves. Reggie and Bobby were curled up on the weird spinny circle sofa, Luke and Julie were being gross and throwing malteasers at each other from opposite ends of the main sofa, Nick was sprawled out on the loveseat with Willie’s cat, and Carrie and Flynn were stood either side of the TV, which just said  **Alex’s Intervention** in Times New Roman, which was a font both of them  _ hated.  _

He whirled around to leave as soon as he caught sight of the title, but Willie caught him and kissed his cheek.

“Just sit down, bro. Listen to the terrifying lesbians stood in your living room.” 

Alex raised an eyebrow. “There are two terrifying lesbians stood in my living room, next to a TV with what looks like a PowerPoint slide that says Alex’s Intervention, and you want me to  _ listen?”  _

Bobby rolled his eyes and threw a handful of popcorn at Alex. “If I relinquish my Reggie rights and sit with Willie during this, will you listen?” 

“Or,” Julie proposed, standing up, “I’ll relinquish my Luke rights  _ and  _ my sofa rights, and you guys can have a weird telepathic Sunset Curve cuddle huddle, and Willie and I will have the weird spinny circle sofa.”

Alex narrowed his eyes. “Jules, I love you, but you don’t  _ have  _ sofa rights. You don’t live here?” 

Carrie finally snapped. “Alex, sit down with your band mates and shut up, so I can rant at you for ten minutes, and then I will drag these losers out so you can have a date night, deal?” 

“You’re on thin ice already, Missy,” he retorted, even as he plastered himself against Luke’s side. “Reggie isn’t even your favourite member of Sunset Curve!” 

“Lexi, that has literally never been a requirement of our friendship circle,” Reggie protested, even as Bobby and Luke gasped. 

“What do you mean, Reggie isn’t Carrie’s favourite member of Sunset Curve?” They asked at the same time, Bobby sitting down next to Alex so that Reggie could sprawl across the three of them. 

“Of course Reggie’s my favourite.” Carrie rolled her eyes. “I’m just closest to you, Alex, because we have more in common. Anyways, intervention, let’s go.” 

Flynn grinned and pulled a laser pointed out of nowhere. “First order of business; the symptoms of the problem.” She flashed her laser at Willie’s chest. “Up first: the boyfriend.” 

Willie motioned for her to change the slide and gave her a thumbs up when it switched to a picture of a doctor with some question marks around it, then smiled apologetically at Alex. “I asked you if your pancakes were satisfactory and you started crying. Three days ago you told me in your sleep that I could shove my 100% satisfaction up my ass and see if I still liked it when I could taste it coming up my throat.” 

Alex made a mortified squeaking sound and hid his face behind Luke’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

Flynn flashed her laser at the other three boys. “And now for the best friends.” 

Reggie coughed. “Uhm. I picked you up from work and went in to buy a couple new picks whilst I was there, and somehow you managed to sell me an oboe, and you didn’t even seem to register it was me until you were sat in my car and asking why the fuck there was an oboe case in the back of the car.” 

Bobby squeezed Alex’s calf. “I called to ask if I could order in a new amp and you didn’t switch your customer interaction voice off the entire time, even when I asked if you wanted me to get red or white for the sangria we were having with dinner.” 

Alex groaned and pulled his hood over his head. “Is there more?” 

“Sorry, buddy.” Luke patted his head. “I found a song in my notebook called the customer is never right and the score was honestly incredible but the lyrics were highly questionable, and I’ve quoted half of it back to you in little excerpts and you appear to have literally no memory of writing it.” 

Nick cleared his throat. “I asked if you wanted a beer and you looked at me funny and said you can’t drink on the clock, your customer satisfaction ratings would drop.” After a pause, he added; “it was four am.”

“Thank you, boys.” Flynn nodded. “And now for the three people you should always be listening to, starting with Julie, who’s the best person in all of our lives, bar Reggie.” 

Julie grinned. “Alex, sweetie. You told Willie’s cat that she would be a terrible cashier because she ripped your favourite pillow up. Not even jokingly, you just sternly pointed a finger at her, and gave her a dressing down in the most serious tone I have ever heard you use.” 

“Really, man?” Flynn raised her eyebrows at him, then shook her head. “Anyway, you made me a smoothie, patted my cheek, kissed my forehead, and told me if I wasn’t one hundred percent satisfied I could make a formal complaint or request a remake, then just left.” 

Alex cringed and pulled a blanket from the back of the sofa over himself. “Is it over yet? Please tell me it’s over.”

Carrie laughed. “Aw, Alex. Of course not. You joined Dirty Candy for a rehearsal last week and at the end of it you just sat on the floor and stared at the mirror, and when Kayla tried to snap you out of it, you just said “Swinton’s Electrical and Musical supplies, how can I help?” without looking away from the mirror.” 

“Oh, no,” Alex whispered. “Can someone make me a hot chocolate? I think I deserve a hot chocolate.” 

“Course, bro. Baileys?” Bobby and Willie asked at the same time, standing up.

“Does It not concern any of you,” Flynn asked, looking between the two of them, “that the way you talk to your boyfriends and your best friends are so similar that sometimes this happens? Because I’ve seen Reggie and Alex do the same thing when talking to Bobby, and that’s gotta get weird.”

“Have you never seen the “calls you bro, but romantically” meme?” Reggie, Bobby, Luke and Alex asked at the same time, all crossing their arms and cocking their heads.

Nick raised his hand. “Have you not considered that all four of them are at least a little bit in love with each other?”

“Luke even calls Julie Bro sometimes,” Reggie added, “and of course we are. It’s why our band chemistry is so great.” 

“He does,” Julie sighed. “It’s true, they seem incapable of stopping. Have you ever seen Reg and Luke sing together?” 

Willie squeezed her shoulder. “Aw, poor Julie-bean.”

“Oh my  _ god.”  _ The four boys grinned, apparently completely distracted. “Julie-bean!” 

“Like Jellybean!” Reggie laughed to himself. “That’s amazing!” 

Luke nodded emphatically. “Willie, you're a brilliant, beautiful man, and I love you.”

Alex snorted. “Why do you feel the need to call him beautiful every time you compliment him for something else? Not that he isn’t, obviously, but it’s your go to.”

“Alex, you can’t bring a man who looks like that home to a house of people attracted to men, regularly, and expect us not to hit on him at least a little bit. In the name of good fun,” Luke protested, winking at Willie. Julie didn’t look surprised in the slightest, just a little exasperated. 

Carrie wolf whistled sharply. “Boys! Stop derailing the intervention just because Willie is attractive. Bobby, go make a hot chocolate, by  _ yourself,”  _ she narrowed her eyes at Willie when he moved to follow. “Just because you’re not one of these dumbass musicians doesn’t mean I don’t think you and Bobby could blow up that kitchen if given five minutes alone together.” 

Willie sighed sadly and ducked his head. “Yeah, okay. I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to derail your intervention, I promise, Carrie.” 

“Just go,” she told him, deflating instantly when his expression crumbled. 

He grinned and followed Bobby into the kitchen. 

Maniacal laughter escaped the kitchen minutes later, and everyone left in the living room shuddered and glared at Carrie. 

She held her hands up in surrender. “I’m not  _ heartless,  _ okay? How was I supposed to be mean to him when he looked like that?” 

“Carrie, you’re a lesbian,” Alex informed her gently. “Your role in this friendship group is to be mean to the pretty dumbass men. Just like Flynn’s role is to boss about the pretty dumbass men, and Nick’s role is to remind us how straight people are supposed to act so we don’t scare the public. The whole reason we’re dumbass men is because people don’t tell us no because we’re pretty, that’s how you found your niche with us.” 

“I can be mean to you four,” she dismissed, “except sometimes Reggie, which I think we can all agree is understandable. But can you honestly tell me you thought I could be mean to Willie?” 

Flynn patted her shoulder. “It’s okay, Care-bear. We’ve all tried to be mean to Willie, it makes you physically uncomfortable, and none of us have figured out how to move past it.” 

Willie and Bobby returned five minutes later with a tray of hot chocolates piled high with marshmallows, both covered in a light dusting of icing sugar.

Before anyone could ask them how the fuck they got icing sugar on themselves making hot chocolate, Flynn took charge. “So, we’ve talked through the symptoms of the problem, now we’re going to move onto identifying the problem.” 

Carrie switched the slide to a new one, that was just a picture of Alex’s work’s storefront. “Now, Lexi. We’ve come to the conclusion that the problem is you working at Swinton’s. Julie works at Swinton’s two days a week, and she tells me to enjoy my drink and have a musical day whenever she makes me coffee, so I’m assuming there’s some brainwashing going on there?” 

Alex shrugged, barely visible beneath the pile of blankets he’d hidden himself in, only his face and and hands cupping his mug not buried. “It’s the ambience.”

“Babe, what the  _ fuck _ does that mean?” Willie asked, eyebrows raised in concern. 

Julie, on the other hand, nodded like she knew what that meant. “And the coffeemaker.” 

Carrie blinked for a moment, then continued. “Sure. Anyways. Both of you are up and coming musicians with record deals and music labels and gigs that you make not insignificant money from, as well as enough Instagram and Twitter followers to consider brand deals, and very bright futures.”

“What care-bear means to say,” Flynn interrupted, “is why the  _ hell  _ are you working at a backroad musical and electrical supplies shop when Alex, you flinch when computers make notification noises, and Julie you would snap a flute over your knee if given thirty seconds alone with one, when you don’t need the income?” 

“Well, I started there a couple weeks before we got the deal, but after we moved apartments,” Alex reasoned weakly. “And now I’m just too awkward to quit.” 

Julie shrugged. “I thought I might learn about instruments and stuff, and feel too bad to leave Alex by himself.” 

“Mary mother of  _ god.”  _ Flynn whispered, raising her gaze heavenward. “You’re both  _ useless,  _ and from now on, I’m instating power of attorney, since neither of you can be trusted to make your own decisions.”

Carrie squeezed her arm gently. “Babe, that’s not how power of attorney works,” she whispered. 

“It can be if I make it,” Flynn insisted. 

Alex cleared his throat. “Do I get my date night yet? I love you all, but I expected Chinese food and a Balthazar binge-fest, not… this.” He gestured to the lot of them. 

“Sure, ‘Lex.” Carrie relented. “I’ll write your resignation letter for you, and you can hand it in on Monday, okay? And you’re taking tomorrow as a sick day.”

He nodded meekly. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.” She nodded. “Everybody out, then.” 

——

“Bobby,” Willie whispered. “Are you up, man?”

“Willie, I love you, man, but it’s three am, what the  _ fuck  _ do you want?” Bobby snapped without heat, feeling around for the lamp switch. 

“Reggie and Julie just kicked me out of my bed do you wanna watch the West Wing whilst the tv is free?” 

“... fuck it, sure. Get Luke and Nick, then.” He stumbled out of bed, grabbing Reggie’s hoodie and one of Luke’s beanies on his way to the living room, shoving them on to ward off the early December chill. 

Pretty soon the four of them were huddled on the living room couch under multiple layers of blanket, only the light from the tv and a single lamp keeping them out of the dark. 

“So… we all agree it’s weird that Carrie and Flynn are dating, right?” Luke asked after a minute. “Y’know, after years of hating each other.” 

“Weird? More like completely terrifying,” Bobby snorted. “They’re going to take over the world, and there’s nothing we can do to stop them.” 

“Let’s be real, it could be worse,” Nick reasoned as he pulled up the West Wing. 

Willie nodded in agreement. “Alex, Julie, and Reggie could probably do it off pure cuteness, and then we would be the ones having to make sure they didn’t get panic attacks and flares with all the public attention.” 

“Plus there would be so many cheating rumours,” Luke and Bobby added. 

“About all of us.”

“Or maybe even polyamory.” 

“Sorry, fellas,” Willie teased. “Not quite my type.” 

“It’s okay.” Luke patted his shoulder. “We all accepted that you only have eyes for Alex a long time ago.”

Bobby laughed. “Yeah, we all had a moment of oh shit, he’s hot, but then you fell off your skateboard because Alex kissed your cheek and we moved past it.” 

“I fell off my skateboard because I hit a rock,” Willie insisted, for what was probably the millionth time. “Seriously!” 

“You weren’t moving, bro,” Luke reminded him. “The skateboard was still. You’d been standing on it to be equal height with Alex when you kissed him, and then when he pulled back after a bit-”

“And said see you tomorrow, baby, then kissed your cheek,” Bobby chimed in.

“You went bright red, and fell off your skateboard,” Luke finished.

“We were all watching,” Nick added. 

Willie groaned. “I hate all of you. Now stop your slander and watch the show.” 

“it’s okay,” Luke consoled him. “Alex had a dopey smile the whole weekend after your first date.”

“You two deserve each other,” Bobby agreed.

Willie rolled his eyes. “I’m like, the  _ only  _ reason either of you are in functioning relationships, so silence.” 

“Hey,” Nick frowned. “I definitely helped Julie and Luke get together.”

“Uh.. how?” Luke asked.

Nick raised an eyebrow, lips twitching as he struggled to keep a straight face. “I was the one who convinced Julie not to move to Alaska and start up a papier mâché company. So. A little gratitude, if you please.” 

“I’m sorry, you talked her out of  _ what?”  _

“According to Julie, it was a newspaper bead company,” Bobby said over Luke’s indignant screeching.

“Okay, she thought about that too,” Nick acquiesced. “But Flynn had already convinced her she’d get bored of that.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are much appreciated if you enjoy, feel free to ask me anything in the comments/on tumblr, I’m always up for a chat :))))


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